A hub in the heart of Europe

Zurich Airport is Switzerland’s gateway to the world. Last year, a total of 22.9 million passengers departed from, arrived at, or transferred via Zurich Airport, thus making it not only the region’s most important transport hub, but also its most highly-frequented shopping and services centre. Approximately 270 companies operate at the airport, where they provide jobs for almost 24,000 people.

Zurich Airport serves as the major hub for Swiss International Air Lines, its home carrier, as well as for Lufthansa and Air Berlin. Zurich Airport is regularly awarded for the quality and scope of its services, its short transfer distances, its friendly staff and the cleanliness of its infrastructure. Located near the City of Kloten, this airport offers excellent access to international, national and regional transport networks, with three freeway junctions, 700 daily bus connections and 300 daily train connections. Once at the terminal, passengers encounter short passageways that lead to the three docks. Dock A serves destinations within the Schengen zone, Dock E – the newest dock, hosts long-haul flights outside the Schengen zone. Dock B is currently under construction. At Zurich Airport, 86 airlines offer 184 destinations, 125 of which are in Europe. Last year a total of 268,765 flight movements took place and over 411,000 tonnes of cargo were transported via Zurich Airport.

The airport operates three concrete runways (2500m, 3300m and 3700m). The longest of these, R16/34, underwent a significant renovation three years ago, with an upgrade of the airfield ground lighting system and resurfacing of the runway.

Major infrastructure projects

For the past few years, Zurich Airport has been under heavy construction. By the end of this year, two of the most prominent infrastructure projects will assume operation; the afore – mentioned new Dock B and the building for centralised security checks, both part of a larger building project called ‘Zürich 2010’. Both buildings will contribute substantially to improving the quality of airport operations and ensure smooth passenger processes.

Dock B is being seen as a state-of-the-art project. The new dock enables flexible handling of Schengen and non-Schengen flights on two floors, thus making flight processes highly adaptable. Characteristic features of this new building include a glass façade, light wells and as a veritable highlight, a roof with an observation deck.

Smaller in size, but equally important in impact is the new building for centralised security checks. It is due to commence operations simultaneously with Dock B. The building is located in the heart of the terminal area, between check-in 1 and check-in 2. By the beginning of December this year, all passengers and employees will pass through the security check in this building before entering the passenger zone, the so called ‘airside center’. This change in the travel process will improve the travel experience in the future, as it allows passengers more time, for instance to enjoy the attractive range of shopping and eating facilities and relaxation in the airside center before proceeding to their gates.

The future of travelling

Automated processes can simplify the way we travel. Zurich Airport has been at the forefront of testing new processes to better accommodate passengers and improve processes. The goal is nothing less than seamless travel, from check-in to baggage drop-off, boarding card control, border control and all the way to selfboarding. The focus this year is primarily on self-boarding, and secondly on border control. The airport operator has been working closely with other partners in both series of tests.

In the Future Gate Setup (FUGS) project, Zurich Airport tested self-boarding turnstiles at a gate in Dock A. The aim was to collate findings with regard to functionality, user-friendliness, capacity and efficiency in the use of e-gates with passengers. The results so far have been positive. The handling agents Swissport, Dnata and AAS, who were involved in the tests, were able to familiarise themselves quickly with the new system. The new Dock B will also be fully equipped with self-boarding stations.

A further exciting series of tests has been in progress in the arrivals and departures hall below the Airside Center since the beginning of December 2010. The tests were launched by the airport operator in collaboration with the Cantonal police of Zurich. The pilot project is intended primarily to demonstrate the practicability and efficiency of automated border controls. The costs for the pilot project are reasonable, since the three passenger control turnstiles are leased and will be fully dismantled again after the tests are completed. Individual monitoring is also carried out at the automated border control.

The tests and results are promising. Automated processes will simplify many steps along the journey. Zurich Airport, ever aware of its high quality standards, will still employ personnel to work and support the initiative. This is not about machines replacing human interaction on a service level, it is about optimising processes and making services faster, smoother and more convenient for passengers.

General excellence promotes attractiveness of location

It is precisely because of this focus on excellent quality services that Zurich Airport is consistently ranked among the top performance airports, both within Europe and worldwide. The Airport Service Quality Award is among the most prestigious recognitions within the industry. Among the features that have consistently ranked very highly with those surveyed were short passageways between gates, high standards in quality of services, general friendliness of staff and excellent public and private transportation connections. Zurich Airport commits itself to excellence and will continue to be an attractive place to work and a meeting place for travellers as well as visitors and employees. A large number of well-known retailers opened their doors at Zurich Airport recently. The food outlets were also successfully brought up to date with new concepts, particularly in the passenger zone.

Demand for office space is also high, and the vacancy rate has been further reduced since a string of major new tenants, including Swiss Federal Railways were acquired. The Terminal 2 upgrade, the development of further catering concepts and the re-modeling of areas in the Airside Center are currently proceeding at full speed and will also help to improve the quality of the facilities.

A great place to be and visit

In addition to being just a great ‘place to be’, Zurich Airport is also a great place to work: It’s clean and modern, centrally located with excellent public transportation connections, lots of green spaces around the airport, one of the top three shopping centres in Switzerland and over 270 companies contributing to this hub in the heart of Europe.

It is also a lovely recreation spot for visitors and local residents. Tours and visits at various airport partners are always popular. The observation deck on Dock E attracted around 200,000 people in the past year. Visitor numbers are expected to climb to a record 500,000 per year once the new observation deck is open, making Zurich Airport the third most popular expedition spot in Switzerland, right after the Zurich Zoo and the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne. Children’s birthday parties – a new option for young airport fans – have already delighted lots of children and are regularly booked out. In addition, the Airbus A380 of Singapore Airlines turns out to be a genuine attraction for the public. Every day, curious spectators stand shoulder to shoulder along the railing of the observation deck or along the perimeter fence near the runways in order to get a glimpse of this impressive giant plane.

Political climate

Taking all particular political interests into account is proving to be an increasingly difficult task. Comparatively few other airports are as tightly restricted by political conditions as Zurich Airport. Its mission remains unchanged; to provide a high-quality and commercially successful airport service in the medium and long term. However, conditions have changed and some developments in the political landscape will have a significant impact on the future of Zurich Airport.

One of the most talked about issues, the second initiative put forward by the municipalities together with the counter – proposal, will be submitted to the Zurich electorate on 27 November of this year. This initiative requires the Canton of Zurich to actively oppose the construction of new runways and the expansion of existing ones at the level of both the Board of Directors of Flughafen Zürich AG and the Swiss Confederation. The counter-proposal goes even further, and calls for opposition to the construction of new rapid runway exits and new flight routes over densely populated areas. The airport operator takes a clear stance; the sustained development of this economically important infrastructure must not be prevented in this way.

The good news is that other political issues progress more favourably. A technical framework has been developed in the Sectoral Aviation Infrastructure Plan (SAIP) for conducting an objective dialogue on the conflict over noise generated by the airport.

Flughafen Zürich AG

As a diversified business and a listed company, Flughafen Zürich AG operates Switzerland’s most important transport and meeting hub – Zurich Airport – under concession of the federal government. In the past year, the company, which receives no subsidisation, employed a staff of approximately 1400 with whom it generated a total revenue of 863 million Swiss Francs and reported a profit of 138.5 million. While the majority of the share capital is in private hands, 33.3 per cent is held by the Canton of Zurich, and five per cent by the City of Zurich.

In the formulation and implementation of its strategy, Flughafen Zürich AG underpins the three aspects of cost-efficiency, environment and social responsibility. In this way it aims to increase the company’s competitiveness and credibility and add to its value on a sustainable basis. The company focuses on its core activities; national and international airport operator, operating the commercial centres in the landside and airside areas, and income-oriented management and further development of real estate at the Zurich location.

International Business Development

The company’s international airport activities are part of its business model. One of the bestknown and successful commitments is Bangalore International Airport in India. The airport is currently seeing a 22 per cent growth in passenger numbers, and the airport has been running profitably since the second year of operation. After selling some of its shares in this airport in 2009, Flughafen Zürich AG activities are now focused on improving operational and commercial quality.

Another prestigious market is Latin America, where Flughafen Zürich AG is positioning itself – together with the joint venture A-port – for a series of possible privatisations and modernisation of various airports.

About the Author

Thomas E. Kern was born in 1953 in Zurich. After completing a Law degree at the University of Zurich and an MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau near Paris, he joined Interio AG in 1984 to head up their expansion activities, thus laying the foundations for his career in retail. He held various managerial positions within the Globus Group and was CEO from 2002 to 2006. At the 2006 Annual General Meeting of Flughafen Zürich AG, Kern was elected to the airport operator’s Board of Directors. Two years later, he was appointed CEO of Flughafen Zürich AG and stepped down from his Board membership mandate with immediate effect.